A few weeks ago I presented a Roasted Curry Cauliflower here on Meathenge. It was good enough for me to want to try some spice and cooking modifications. I was really interested in using some TexMex flavors and using a rack inside the roaster to set the florets on. And I wanted to see what non-organic cauliflower was like (probably not 11 dollars for two heads). I did it all.

I began this by using two heads of cauliflower from a local grocery. They were only a few dollars compared to the 11 spent on the organic ones from El Cerrito Natural Grocery. I will admit freely though, the organic ones were FAR superior in every way to the standard ones found anywhere. Little perfect works of art.
Blended together was good Ancho chile powder, cumin, onion powder, crushed celery seed, smoked paprika, kosher salt, cayenne & oregano with just a touch of cinnamon. Probably about a teaspoon of each except the ancho chile powder, that got 2 tsp. Dissolved it in a cup of olive oil, I used the good stuff. But considering your roasting these things at 450 degrees for 35 minutes, use the lighter version. Or not, as you’ll soon see.
The florets rested in the spices/oil for about 30 minutes, they were all happy and smiling. I used my hands to toss & coat, wooden spoons just make a damned mess.
Preheated the oven to 450. I put a metal baking cooling rack in the bottom of my turkey roaster, carefully put the florets and quartered onion in. The onion fell immediately through the rack and directly to the bottom of the roaster, so did all the oil with spices. I should have pulled the rack, but I kept a stiff upper lip and moved on. Fool.
In to the oven they went, set the timer and figured I’d come back to stir them a bit in 15 minutes. Well, ‘stirring’ florets on a wire rack isn’t a straight forward situation. So I used tongs and turned them manually. Biggles thought, “boy the oil sure is HOT sounding.” The timer went off at 35 minutes and I pulled the roaster. The oil was nearing a point of ignition. Since the cauliflower wasn’t directly on the bottom there was nothing to ‘cool’ the oil so it just went and did it’s own thing, taking the onions with it. Black is beautiful baby, but not when it’s your oil & onions. And since all the oil had run off IN to the roaster, the florets were pretty dry. But don’t worry, they were also tasteless. Not even ONE little hint of any spice. Mama screwed up her nose and walked away. I slathered them with hot sauce and choked a few down. They weren’t burnt or burned tasting, just dry roasted cauliflower.
Make sure you read through this post another time and mark it down. Do not do this at home, ever.
Yours truly,
Biggles
Reference material used (punctuation):
Starsky & Hutch #2 (paperback) Ballentine,
copyright 1976 ISBN#0-345-25124-5-150